Keep my Focus on the Gate

Hebrews 11-Part 9
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  Hebrews 11:13  NAS
These all died in faith, not having recived the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. KJV


LET IT GLOW

One summer we took a trip with our son and daughter inlaw, to visit our daughter and son inlaw.
We flew by airplane that time. Due to a delay in the first leg of the trip, we hit the ground running through the terminal to catch our connecting flight. During the jog, we heard our names called for us to board. We kept our focus on the gate through which we were to board the plane.  Everyone was on the plane, waiting for us so it could take off. Whew! We did make it in time. Surprisingly enough, our luggage made it to our destination with us. We had a great visit, inspite of the hectic beginning. In the same way, I need to keep my focus on heaven as I walk this road of faith.

These Patriarchs, which included Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah all died without having received the promises. (Enoch was translated, without dying, went directly to heaven.) They moved through the desert headed toward the Promised Land, but never settled there.  However, they had faith that pleased God. How? By faith:

• Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice;
• Enoch was translated;
• Noah built an ark;
• Abraham went out into a place he should afterwards receive;
• Abraham sojourned in the land of promise;
• Abraham offered up Isaac;
• Sarah bare Isaac.

The chief end of man is 'to please God.' (Charles Spurgeon)
They were looking for a better country, a heavenly one. (verse 16)
Their faith was looking for a Savior, whereas, our faith believes there  was a Jesus, the Savior who died on the cross and rose from the grave.
With eyes of faith, they saw "from a distance" the promise of God's redemption and greeted it, remaining essentially "strangers... on the earth." Shepherd's Notes

So when each one died, they received the promise, heaven, because of their faith in God.
Don't we admire the faith of the patriarchs? They didn't have the complete Bible like we do, yet their faith stayed strong. In spite of their faillures and testings, these believed God. He bore witness to their faith.Shouldn't we have even more faith?

LET IT GROW

Looking at our key verse; there are some verbs that stand out:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but

• having seen
• having welcomed, persuaded means to be induced to believe, to have faith;
• having confessed, embraced means to receive joyfully

that they were  strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
How about our walk of faith today?
Is my hope in the vision beyond the present?
Is my pursuit in cultivating my identity with God?
Am I willing to release all earthly ties?
Do I desire, yearn for a godly life-style?
Remember, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He prepared a city for them.
In the same application, God isn't ashamed to be called Linda's God; He has prepared a city for her.It's an eternal city that will last forever.

LET IT GO

Keep my spiritual bags packed, ready to fly to heaven when my name is called to go.

Keep my focus on the gate of heaven.

Keep running to Jesus.

Keep the faith.

Waiting for a Baby

Hebrews 11-Part 8
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.  Hebrews 11:11-12

LET IT GLOW

One of my close girlfriends got married a year before I did, so when she got pregnant, my thoughts turned to babies. We gave her a baby shower in due time. I saw all her preparations for the little one. Exposed to all of that made me want a baby of our own. After our first wedding anniversary, we  agreed it was time. So I went off the pill, contraceptive, and we waited. There was one time that the signs  made me think I was expecting, but it did not happen. Crushed,  I crawled up in my husband's lap in the rocking chair and cried into his embrace. My heart wanted a baby so much. The disappointment shattered my dreams.  I wanted to give my husband a child, but it didn't happen at that time, in my timing. As a Christian, I knew that God was in control of the situation and I had to wait on His timing, the right time.
I was young and very impatient with the situation, so I can understand a smiggen of how Sarah felt. My story was different from Sarah's By the time our second anniversary came along, I was in the hospital, holding our precious baby girl. so you will agree that my wait wasn't very long compared to 25 years that she and Abraham waited after receiving the promise from God. I'm certain that you will agree with me-as women, waiting for a baby month after month is like an eternity. Will you join me in zooming in on Sarah's situation?

Background:
Genesis 15 gives the account of the covenant between God and Abraham. Our story begins there.
-The biblical account of Sarah's life doesn't really even begin until she was already 65 years old.
-Sarah is remembered for her legendary beauty, which is a stumbling block for some men.
-Abraham was her half-brother. (Terah was father to both of them, Sarah being ten years younger.
  Names of their mothers is not told. At that time it was acceptable to marry relatives.)
-Submissive to her husband's headship, completely devoted to Abraham; Sarah lived in tents, on the
  move with Abraham; no retirement at age 65.
-Sarah's barrenness was a bitter burden for her to bear. She became a battle-ax, a bear to live with to
  say the least. Adjectives, such as temperamental, conniving, cantankerous, cruel, jealous, whinner,
  complainer, nag, could have described Sarah at this time of her life.
-Sarah's name was originally spelled "Sarai" which means my princess, then changed to Sarah, which
  means princess.  She would become the mother of nations; kings would come from her. God changed
  it when she was 90 years old (Genesis 17:15).
-In the midst of a bleak situation, out of desperation, during a time of weak faith, Sarah gave
  Abraham her permission for him to lie with her handmaiden so Sarah could obtain children by her.
  What a blockhead! In Genesis 16:2, it says Abram harkened. What were they thinking? Well they
  weren't thinking!
-With the birth of Ishmael, Haggar and Abraham's son, Sarah becomes a worse bear to bare her burden
  of barrenness. Jealousy raises it's ugly head and Sarah becomes a bully. (Oh boy, do we have a soap
  opera here?)
-Back in Genesis 12, God had promised blessings, one of which Abraham would become a great
  nation, but how is not told. Then in Genesis 17:16-21, the Lord told Abraham that it was Sarah who
  would bare him a son, Isaac, a year later. Friends, we're talking about a 90 year old woman and a 100
  year old man having a baby. It was physically impossible. That's why God had to intervene with a
  miracle.
-When Sarah first heard about this happening, she laughed (Gen. 18:12). In Hebrew, this laugh,
  tsachaq, means "to mock, make sport." In Genesis 21:6, Sarah's laugh, tschoq, means" laughter in
  pleasure." (Thayer's Lexicon)
-Born to Sarah and Abraham at a ripe old age, was a bounching baby boy, Isaac. What joy she must
  have felt when she held, cuddled, sang to him who was the fulfillment of God's promise to this
  couple.
-Bygones were never gone bye-bye with Sarah because she was a bully toward Haggar and her son.
What will I remember about Sarah? What will people remember about me?

I wonder if everytime Sarah saw Ishmael that she thought of her lack of faith, her disobedience. I wonder if her faith grew when she saw God gave Abraham a son to her handmaid and she considered God able to do the same with her. Just a thought.

LET IT GROW

Looking at Hebrews 11:11-12, I see Sarah listed in the roll call of faith. Why? It was because of her faith in God; she believed that God would keep his promise. So a whole nation came from them; as many people as the stars and sand; there's no way to count them all.

In Genesis 18:14, the Lord asked Abraham Is anything too hard for the LORD? 
The obvious answer is no. But when I insert a situation or specific problem, do I believe it?
Is Linda's finances to hard for the Lord to provide? Is Linda's family situation too hard for the Lord to solve? Is Linda's health too hard for the Lord to cure? How about you?

Is anything in your life too hard for the Lord to take care of or resolve? Nooooo!
Where is our faith? Is it in God?

David Jeremiah said,"Don't despise your older years when God can make you as fruitful as when you were young. God hasn't called us to bear fruit for Him up to a certain age, but forever!"

By faith Linda...

LET IT GO

Through faith in God, I can...

God can...

Where's the Map?

Hebrews 11-Part 7
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.  
 Hebrews 11:10

Background:
Abram's name was changed to Abraham (Gen. 17:5), which meant "father of nations."He was the  tenth descendent of Noah. His Grandfather was Nahor and father was Terah. Abram had two brothers named Nahor and Haran, who had Lot. Abraham's father served other gods, yet God chose Abraham anyway. (Joshua 24:2) Abraham is known as the "friend of God," which caused the Hebrews to boast in their herritage. He was age 75 when God came to him in Ur and issued the challenge and had a wife, Sarai,  who was affected, also. Abraham was rich in flocks, silver, and gold; he had servants, too.


LET IT GLOW

Verse 16 says But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

God referred to Himself as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" in Genesis 28:13, Exodus 3:6, and Matthew 22:32. This is a significant covenant formula whereby an individual or a people identified with God and He with them.

"God shows His affection for them by preparing for them a city," said Adam Clarke.
Of course, we know that city was located in heaven, an eternal city, the New Jerusalem. It was a permanent and eternal home. Its builder and maker is God.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Patriarchs, did not receive the Promised Land as their inheritance, where they actually lived (Acts 7:4). It was their descendents who lived there. Joshua 13 tells of the distribution of the Promised Land among the twelve tribes of Israel.

What is this city, Promised Land like? Hebrews 11:13 says:
*The Patriarchs didn't receive the country of their own for which they were looking.
*They were living by faith when the died.
*They saw and welcomed the things promised from a distance.
*They longed for a better country-a heavenly one.
*They looked for a city which had foundations. Tents don't have foundations.
*They looked for a city whose builder and maker is God.
*Their ultimate Promised Land is heaven.
*The city is called Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. (Hebrews 12:22)
*It's called an enduring city, the city to come (Heb. 13:14).
*Revelation 21 describes such a beautiful city.
*By faith, Abraham expected that city; so he never returned to Ur, not even to Haran. (Falwell)

Am I prepared to go to such a glorious city? He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I (God) will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Rev. 21:7)

God wasn't ashamed to be called their God. He adopted Abraham and his family as His children.
What were some promises that God gave to Abraham? Genesis 12 tells us about these promises of blessings were:
(1) a land, (a great nation)
(2) a seed, (a great name and huge family/family of faith)
(3) be a blessing (to others of faith).

Am I resting on the promises of God? Does my life make Him ashamed to call me His child?


LET IT GROW

My family has done a lot of traveling during our soon to be 40 years together. Most of the time we tried to avoid the big cities and traffic by taking the bypass around them. Such was the case of Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville on our trip to Rhode Island to visit our daughter and her family. However, on that same trip I was navigating using two maps and didn't bypass Louisville, Kentucky. We ended up downtown some way or other. What a mess for us to get out of there. (One good thing that came out of it-we drove by the basketball arena. Arkansas and Louisville colleges are often in the playoffs against each other.) Finally, my husband pulled the car over, asked,"Where's the map?" and rescued us from the big city.
Abraham was given instructions to leave his homeland and family and go to a place that God would lead him to, but he didn't have a map.

Chapter 11 tells us some things Abraham did:

• He obeyed when he was called from his ancestral homeland to leave.
• He didn't know where He was going, just followed God's leading. (verse 8) There was no map or picture of where he was going, nor the outcome of the journey. Abraham would received the land as an inheritance.
• He lived in tents so the family could be ready to move when God said.
• He sojourned the the land of promise, a strange country, as aliens, strangers, pilgrims.
• He looked for a city with foundations, whose architect, builder, and owner is God. 
• He was enable to become a father, even at age 100. He didn't know how God's will would be accomplished.
• He offered his son Isaac, the son of the promise, as a sacrifice. He didn't know why God wanted this to happen, but when Abraham's faith was tested and tried, he obeyed with exceptional faith. He believed that God could raise his son from the dead. (Gen.22)

He believed in the Lord and God counted it to him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6). As Christians, we consider Abraham as our "father in the faith." He received justification by faith, not works.

Now if you have ever read and studied about Abraham, you know that he wasn't perfect. He stumbled and sinned like I do and like you do. God gave him a second and third chance to obey and follow Him. I'm glad He gives me another chance when I fail.

Charles Stanley said, "The walk of faith is into the unknown. It is a call into seperation. Step out of you comfort zone. We can miss out on God's best because we won't let go. The call of God always includes the promise of blessing. Our idea of security is a distorted idea. We're shortsighted. The walk of faith will involve testing and trials. We can respond in two ways: focus on Christ and obey Him or react to fear and try to work things out ourselves. Taking your focus off God will get you into trouble. In obedience we're able to enjoy the best that God has to offer."


LET IT GO

• When God calls, I want to obey and faithfully follow Him.
• Seperate myself when God tells me to do it.
• Step out of my comfort zone.
• Realize that I am a stranger and pilgrim on earth. This world isn't my home; I'm just traveling through. (verse 13)
• Don't expect details or to have my life mapped out; live by faith.
• Be ready to move whenever God says it's time to move.
• Keep my eyes of faith focused on heaven and that beautiful city prepared for me in which to live forever.
• Let go of ...
• Trust God for miracles.
• Make sacrifices when needful to accomplish God's purposes.

Isn't that the way I want to be, but I am working on it. By faith Linda...

A Hundred Year Job

                                              

Hebrews 11-Part 6
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.   Hebrews 11:7

Review:
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice.
By faith Enoch was translated.
By faith Noah built an ark.
{Resource: Charles Spurgeon]

Background:
In the previous lesson we talked about the geneology of Enoch. He was Noah's great-grandfather. Enoch had a son name Methuselah, whose son was Lamech, whose son was Noah. During that time, the world had corrupt, evil, wicked, violent people. God was sorry that He had made man on the earth (Genesis 6:6). He planned to destroy everything, wiping it all out, even the earth.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8)
In Hebrew, grace comes from a root meaning "to bend or stoop"; thus, the condenscending or unmerited favor of a superior person to an inferior one is implied. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Noah was a  righteous man. He was the only blameless person living on earth at the time. He walked in close fellowship with God. (NLT tells us.) So God didn't kill everyone nor every living thing. He decided to save a remant of 8 people-Noah and his wife, Noah's 3 sons and their wives and pairs of animals. God told Noah His plan.

What I plan to do for God isn't important. What He plans is important. What He plans to do where I am is critical. Will I let God use me to accomplish His will, His plans?


LET IT GLOW

Our key verse says By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet...

Actually, God warned Noah about something that had never happened before-a flood from rain, and one that covered the entire earth. We see Noah's faith by his agreeing that the flood would come and doing what God told him to do regarding the flood. He was moved with fear. Real faith will always do something. The book of James repeats this theme. (Guzik)

Why did God warn Noah about what He was about to do. God saw Noah's faith, righteousness (lived by God's righteous standards), and they walked and talked together.
Noah was a favorite of God; his faith rested in the Word of God. (John Gill)

What was God about to do when He told Noah to build an ark? God was about to destroy the world. He wanted to work through Noah to accomplish His purposes of saving a remnant of people and animals to repopulate the earth. God always speaks with a purpose in mind. He reveals Himself to increase faith that leads to action. God didn't ask Noah, "What do you want to do for Me?" Instead, God revealed what He was going to do. It really didn't matter what Noah's plans were. (Experiencing God, by H.&R.Blackaby)
Do I listen to God's warnings in the Word? Do I heed His warnings?
God remembered Noah, which is found in Genesis 8:1. God remembers those who live righteously and express their needs to Him. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

LET IT GROW


Probably the longest I have ever stayed at one job has been six years. I do the bookkeeping at our family shop, which is only two days a week. However, there is a job that I have had for almost 40 years, washing my husband's dirty dishes. I can't imagine doing it for sixty more years. Realistically, I'm not too worried about it. I plan on being in heaven before that happens.
But I do I wonder what it was like sending a husband and three sons off to work on building a giant boat during the week. And they were doing it inspite of the fact that it had never rained.

What else did Noah do? By faith Noah:

• was moved with fear; Noah's fear caused him to obey because He believed God would do what He said He would do;                                                                                                                            It was the awful sense of fear of the judgments of God upon the wicked; a reverence of God; a religious fear with which he worshipped God; this fear rose from grace; is a fruit of faith; (John Gill)
• prepared an ark according to the pattern he was given. Noah followed explicit instructions for the details of the ark. He worked diligently for 120 years. He had a working faith, not a do-nothing faith.  MacArthur says there may have been as many as 72,000 creatures and a million species of insects, for eating for a year, on board. Noah was instructed on how to make an ark, as Moses was, in like manner, how to make a tabernacle (8:5). (The ark was 450' long x 75' wide x 45 ' high and a barge-like vessel, 3 stories, with a top window and a side door. Falwell) Someone (can't recall who) said that Noah was 500 miles away from any body of water.
• saved his family from annihilation; God shut the door, securing his family by grace, just as He does us who are saved;  
• condemned the world by his faith; Noah's godly conduct, without preaching at all, could have convicted the sinners; as a preacher, Noah declared the people would be condemned; so by his words and actions, Noah reproved and condemned them.
• became the heir of righteousness according to faith; not of the law, but of the righteousness of Christ received by faith or through faith in Christ, the antitype of the ark. (John Gill)
• heard God declare the rainbow (and saw it) as a sign of His covenant with the earth, that no other universal flood to occur (Gen.9);
• built an altar after everyone and everything was out of the ark (Gen. 8:20) and offered burnt offerings to God.

Noah was a man who believed in God as Creator, Sovereign, and the only Savior from sin. He found grace for himself, because he humbled himself and sought it. He was obedient, as well. But Noah wasn't spared because of his good works alone. (MacArthur Bible Commentary)

What can be said of my life? By faith Linda...

LET IT GO

Live by grace and faith.

Stay in God's ark of protection.

A Lost Car Key

Hebrews 11-Part 5
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Hebrews 11:6


LET IT GLOW

One morning I had everything I was taking with me to work in my hands when the phone rang. So I put them down in a kitchen chair and answered the phone. After finishing the phone conversation, I picked up everything, so I thought, and quickly headed out the door, locking it. When I reached the car, I looked for my key in my purse, but could not find it. I  checked my pockets, looked around on the ground, but found no keys. The house key was on the same keychain, so I couldn't unlock the house and search for the lost car key inside. At least I had my cell phone in my purse, so I called my husband. He was already at work some 15 miles away. It just so happened that his cousin was finished at the same shop and voluntered to drop of the extra set of keys by on his way home (only 1/2 mile out of his way). In the meantime, I waited inside an old storage building, which had a door that wouldn't close, and shivered in the cold while I waited. Finally, the cousin arrived with the key and I was able to go into the house. I was diligently seeking for those keys when I found them on the same chair that I had dropped my handful of stuff whenever the phone rang.  What a way to start a day! As I sat in the car, waiting for it to warm up before driving off, it dawned on me-I had another keychain in my purse the whole time-it had the back door key on it. Oh man, did I feel foolish. Have you diligently searched for something you misplaced or lost?

The Lord gave us a promise in the key verse-He would reward those who diligently seek Him.
Diligently means to seek the favor of God, worship Him. (Thayer's Lexicon)
To diligently seek means to "seek out" God, in the Greek. Not only "ask" and "seek" but "knock," "strive" as in agony of contest. (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)

Diligent means stedy in application; industrious; persevering; prosecuted with care and constant effort. (Webster Dictionary)

We must have both the desire to please God and the diligence to seek Him. Prayer, meditating on the Word, worship, discipline-all of these help use in our walk with God. (Wiersbe)
Rewarder means a giver of wages. (Young's Concordance)
A person must believe that God will reward people's faith in Him with forgiveness and righteousness because He has promised to do so. (MacArthur)
Deuteronomy 4:29 says But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou shalt seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Matthew 6:33 says But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 7:7 states: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; know, and it shall be opened unto you.

Faith expects great things from God and attempts great things for Him. (Shepherd's Notes)
Just how committed am I to constantly seeking the Lord? Does He get my leftovers in my schedule or the first thing in the morning? Am I walking with Him throughout the day?


LET IT GROW


Now that I know I am going to be rewarded when I diligently seek God, what else can I learn from verse 6?

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Period. End of discussion. No, not yet. What does it take to please God, I mean really please Him, Creator of the universe, owner of everything? Is there anything I can do, be, or have that would make God pleased with me?

Accoding to Young's Concordance, please, used in this verse, in Greek is the word euaresteo, which means "to please well."

1. So in order for me to "please God well," I need faith.
2. Faith requires that I come to God. I must possess an attitude of total dependence on God, and availability to God. I come to His throne, His grace, to pray unto him, to implore His mercy, help, assistance. I come into the house of God  to worship Him, serve Him, enjoy His presence, have communion with Him; doing so with all my heart; going through Christ, and by faith.
3. Faith requires that I believe God is there. It means I must have unswerving confidence in His presence, which I can't see, and in His concern, which I may not always feel. I must believe that God exists. I must believe in the three Persons in the Godhead-God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. I must believe that God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (everywhere all the time). I must believe He is all sufficient; His grace is sufficient for me; He is the God of grace, love, and mercy; He is the God of nature and providence; He is the covenant God and Father of Christ.
4. Faith requires that I trust God to keep His Word. There was a time when God spoke audibly, inscribed His truths on stone tablets, and spoke through prophets. Now He speaks throughHis Word, the Bible, and His Holy Spirit.

[Resources: The John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible, a Bible study guide on Hebrews by Charles Swindoll]

Your relationship with God is largely determined by your faith. Faith keeps you in a trusting relationship with God in the midst of your problems. Faith has to do with  your relationship with God, not your circumstances. (Blackaby)

Do I trust God by faith with everything in  my life, with all my needs, and with my eternal life?


LET IT GO

Have faith that pleases my God.

I believe that God exists.

I believe that God will reward me as I diligently, seek Him.

Trust God to keep His Word, promises.

Trust Him with everything.

What a Promotion!

469.  "What a Promotion!"                   March 2, 2012
Hebrews 11-Part 4
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.  
Hebrews 11:5 KJV

Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God.
Amplified

It was because of his faith that Enoch was promoted to the eternal world without experiencing death. He disappeared from this world because God promoted him, and before that happened his reputation was that "he pleased God". And without faith it is impossible to please him. The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man's while to try to find God.   J.B.Phillips New Testament

LET IT GLOW

Who was Enoch? What made Enoch different from others and so special to God that he did not die physically, but was taken up directly to heaven? How did he please God?

• Enoch is first spoken of in Genesis 5:21-24. We can trace his geneology from this fifth chapter. He was the seventh in descent from Adam in the line of Seth (Jude 14). He was the son of Jared (5th generation from Adam), the father of Methuselah, the great-grandfather of Noah, the great-great-grandfather of Shem (whose 9th descendent became  Abraham). Enoch was a patrioch who lived 365 years. It was before the time of judgment of the flood. He walked with God 300 of those years. ( International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) 
• Enoch was a preacher who proclaimed a message of judgment which his generation resented and resisted. It is found in Jude 14-15.
• Enoch and God must have had a special relationship since he and Elijah were the only two translated, not experiencing death; he and Noah were the only two who "walked with God" while others walked before God.

According to Thayer's Lexicon, translated means to transfer, without mention of the place, it being well known to the readers. Faussett's Dictionary says it is a sudden removal from mortality to immortality with out death; the passover of living saints at Christ's coming (1Cor.15:51-52).

 Enoch did not die. God took him to a state of blessedness without obliging him to pass through death. (Adam Clarke)

What made Enoch so special or different that this occurred to him? I think the Phillips Translation 
answers my question:  It was because of his faith that Enoch was promoted to the eternal world without experiencing death. He disappeared from this world because God promoted him...

New Living Translation says he disappeared because God took him.

NAS says he was not found because God took him up.  

So it was because of Enoch's faith that he was promoted to heaven without the sting of death. What a promotion! What a way to go!

Jerry Vines says, "Faith is trusting what God says and acting upon it regardless of circumstances or consequences."

David Guzik describes faith as being the "sense" that gives us evidence of the invisible spiritual world."

So was Enoch's faith different from mine? from the other "Heroes of Faith"?
I counted 24 different times faith is used in chapter 11, with 5 different Greek words. My conclusion is: faith is faith. Either we believe and trust God or we don't. The uniqueness of our "Heroes" is in the way they demonstrated their faith in God, obeying what God asked them to do.
After all, the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).


LET IT GROW

What was Enoch's testimony before the fight of his life? He pleased God. Plain and simple isn't it? Or is it? How did Enoch please God? What did he do? How can I please God? I dug a little deeper to find out.

The verb pleased (euaresteo in Greek) is the Septuagint rendering of the Hebrew phrase "to walk with." Enoch pleased God in that he walked with God. Thus, our author concludes that without faith it is impossible to please God. (verse 6) One cannot please God without walking in the light of truth and in righteousness before God (1John 1:5-7). Liberty Bible Commentary

Genesis 5:24 says And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Here's my conclusion of how Enoch pleased God/walked with God:

• He obeyed God by prophesying and preaching God's warning, the Truth, without tickling their ears. His message is found in Jude 14-15. To obey is better than sacrifice 1Sam.15:22).
• He lived by faith. (Heb.10:38)
• He repented and asked for forgiveness of sins-he said that God was bringing judgment on the ungodly's deeds and words.
• He loved God and others. Why else would he have preached such a hard message?
• He worshipped God.
• He prayed and talked to God (received the message) as they walked together.
• He surrendered to God's will.

I can add to the list what pleases God:

• the sacrifice of praise (Jer.17:26),
• surrender (Luke 1:38),
• thanksgiving (Ps.100:4; Ps.107:22),
• rejoicing,
• singing His praises,
• salvation found in Jesus,
• prayer,
• glorifying Him, etc.

Which of these do I need to work on so I please God in all things?

Adrian Rogers said,"If we please God, it doesn't matter who we displease; if we displease God, it doesn't matter whom we please."

"Heredity, ritual, ceeremony, charity, nor any other good work apart from faith pleases God," said Nelson Price.

"Anybody can walk with God, but not everybody does," said James Merritt.

God doesn't want us to have an ordinary walk. He wants us to have a supernatural walk. Our walk is the way we live our life, our lifestyle. What begins as a step of faith soon becomes a walk of faith.
 (Ed Young)

LET IT GO

Let go of what I need to in order to walk closely with my God and please Him.

Ask God what is in my life that displeases Him.

Ordinary People with Extraordinary Faith

Hebrews 11-Part 3
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Hebrews 11:4

LET IT GLOW

If you have been following my writings for any length of time, you know that I am just a country gal, walking by faith through this journey of life. I grew up on a broiler, chicken and cattle farm. My parents were not highly educated, only Mom had a high school degree. However, Dad had a lot of good common sense.  I share examples of my childhood and how the Word of God applies to my life in hopes that  you can relate and it will encourage you.
As I look at the "Heroes of Faith" in this chapter, I see plain and simple, common folks, ordinary people with extraordinary faith. However, they had uncommon faith and obeyed the Lord and were blessed by it. Hopefully, their example of faith and obedience has something to teach me and you.
This chapter actually begins, not with a list of names, but with a brief and simple analysis of faith: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NAS)

In his study guide for Hebrews, Charles Swindoll has this to say:

It's easy to trust God in theory when a circumstance is yet distant from us, but when a situation is upon us, doubt competes for first place. God has graciously given us the following three examples of common, real people who had nothing incredible in their makeup, yet who, when under pressure, believed God. They allowed faith to dethrone doubt. Let them be our models!

The first three men mentioned are a shepherd (Abel), a preacher (Enoch), and a builder (Noah). Do I want my faith, or lack of faith recorded? Do I want it said that I offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice and thus obtained witness that I was righteous? Yes indeed, but how can it happen? Let's look closer at Abel's life for the answer.

LET IT GROW

Did you notice that Adam and Eve were not mentioned in this chapter? They had seen God, fellowshiped with Him, and talked with Him. Their children were the first to exercise faith in the unseen God. (MacArthur)
I had not considered that before now. Another thing, I don't know why, but I thought Abel was the first born, not Cain. Not so. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve.
In Genesis 4,  we can see the contrast of the two brothers:

• Abel was the second born son; Cain was the firstborn son.
• Abel was a shepherd, a keeper of sheep; Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground, raised vegetables.
• Abel brought the best of his firstborn lambs and the fat as a sacrifice; Cain presented some of his crops, fruit of the ground as an offering.
• The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering; He did not with Cain.
• Abel obeyed God; Cain disobeyed God.
• Abel acted in faith; Cain acted in unbelief.
• Abel's sacrifice was acccounted as righteousness by God; Cain's was not. (Rom. 4)
• Abel's sacrifice was evidence of authentic faith; Cain's sacrifice was evidence that he was just going through the motions of ritual through a disobedient manner
• Abel's heart was right with God before the sacrifice; Cain's was not.

What a contrast of these two brothers. They were like day and night.

Both brothers knew what God required (concerning sacrifices), says MacArthur.

It wasn't the offering that made one acceptable or unacceptable, since God accepted both grain and annimal offerings according to their purposes. It was the character of the person that made one offering acceptable and the other not. (Falwell)

A person comes to God by faith to receive righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 calls Jesus, The LORD of Righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu in Hebrew). Righteousness isn't good conduct, excellent morals, uprightness, nor the avoidance of evil. It was Jesus' shedding of His blood on the cross that provided us with a way to be right with God. I can't do it on my own because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Only Jesus provides us with His robe of righteousness, which is blood stained, so we can enter God's throne room.

Do you know the rest of the story? Cain got angry and jealous of his brother's sacrifice being acceptable to God. The Lord even talked to Cain about in Genesis 4:7 NLT: You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.

Cain didn't have a change of heart. His anger and jealousy grew into bitterness and hatred, resulting in the sin of murder. What can I learn from this? I can't come to God on my own terms, but on His terms. I can't earn God's favor by works.

Is my faith pleasing to God? Hebrews 11:6 says Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Do my sacrifices please God? (Rom.12:1-2)



LET IT GO

Present my body as a living sacrifice unto God.

Keep my heart right with God. Recognize sin in my life and confess it.

Walk by faith.